Beverly adopts $2.9 million budget

Thursday

Jun 28, 2012 at 12:01 AM

BEVERLY — The City Council on Tuesday adopted a $2.9 million budget that comes with a modest tax increase and maintains all positions and services.

The 2012 spending plan includes a $1.4 million tax levy and an estimated tax rate of $1.772 per $100 of assessed property value, a 7.2-cent increase, according to figures provided by City Auditor Bob Stewart.

The tax rate is based on the 2011 averaged assessed value, before a citywide reassessment took place later in the year. Based on the estimated rate, the owner of a home assessed at the 2011 city average of $87,600 will pay $1,552.27 in local purpose taxes annually, a $63 increase.

The budget has been approved by the state Department of Community Affairs, but the county has yet to finalize the tax rate, Council President Luis Crespo said Tuesday.

“We heard back from the state today. The tax rate is what we’re waiting for,” Crespo said, adding that city officials had expected an answer a month before.

Because of the delay, tax bills may be sent out later than usual and likely will be due Sept. 1 instead of Aug. 1, said Dorothea Jones, the city’s financial officer, treasurer, tax collector and deputy clerk.

Robert Thibault was the only council member to vote against the budget, citing the city’s legal fees, which amount to $150,000.

“I think we have some serious issues in front of us,” Thibault said.

In addition to retainer fees from attorneys, the city is facing a harassment lawsuit by a female police officer and an $8,000 overtime lawsuit by a Public Works Department employee.

The legal fees increased by $100,000 since last year, according to Stewart.

Crespo said the spike resulted when the Burlington County Joint Insurance Fund raised the city’s deductible as a penalty because the city’s previous fund commissioner failed to follow certain required directives. He said the deductible has been decreased since he took over as commissioner of the fund.

Thibault also raised concerns that the budget did not account for the city’s retirement contributions for six employees in the process of enrolling in the state’s system. He wanted to know how anticipated miscellaneous revenues had been calculated.

Jones said the miscellaneous revenues were calculated using last year’s figures.

“We’re taking the chance that we’re going to collect the same amount from permits and licenses,” she said.

In response to other budget questions, Jones explained that municipalities are required to establish cap banks, and that vehicle maintenance had been budgeted into expenses for the Police and Public Works departments.

As for cost savings, officials explored sharing municipal court services with Delanco and Edgewater Park, but the expense would be about the same, Crespo said.

At Crespo’s suggestion, the council agreed to have Jones review audits from the Beverly Commons, a senior housing development on Third Street. The developer pays the city $10,000 as part of a 30-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement that was approved in 2004, Crespo said. A percentage of that payment based on land taxes goes to the county and the school and fire districts.

But a 2011 revaluation considerably increased the development’s land assessment, which could cut into the amount the city receives from the developer, according to Crespo.

The council also will try to recoup losses from unpaid escrows by applying the balances as liens to be sold during the city’s tax sale. Crespo said the city has “a large number” of unpaid escrows.

“You’ve got people owing anywhere from a couple a hundred dollars to a couple of thousand,” he said.

Crespo also urged officials to consider legal recourse to address a $950,000 tax lien the city has on the former Beaunit Mills site at Railroad Avenue and Broad Street. The site’s developer, Strategic Redevelopment Partners, no longer is claiming responsibility for the land, he said.

Jeannie O’Sullivan: 609-871-8068; josullivan@phillyBurbs.com;

Twitter: @jeannieosulliva

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